Instead of paying the minimum amount once a month, pay half that amount every
two weeks. This could save you thousands of dollars on interest by faster
reducing the monthly balance on which the interest is charged.

For example, say you owe $3,500 at 17 percent and your minimum monthly payment
is $70. If you pay only the minimum each month, it will take more than 25 years
to pay off the $3,500! And by that time you will have paid more than $7,200 in
interest!!! But pay $35 every two weeks and you'll cut your over $5000 in
interest and be debt free in just seven years. Naturally higher than minimum
payments will cut your debt even faster.

When
paying your mortgage pay a regular payment and then in the middle of the month, pay
a little extra
($100-400 )
to get the principle down quickly. This can get a 30 year loan paid off
in 12-18 years. The Reason: When you pay just your bare minimums, it means 99%
of the first year or two of payment goes strictly to interest. Ask your
bank to apply each of your payments within 24 hours. What you don't want
is the bank to wait until next month (and have the interest acrue).